Packers' goal is to feed Benson the ball

Nov. 6, 2013

If your name isn’t Cedric Benson, don’t expect to carry the football very often, or at all, for the Packers in upcoming games.
Assuming Benson remains healthy, it doesn’t look like James Starks or Alex Green will get many carries going forward.
“He’s a workhorse and when he touches the ball, the more he touches it, the better he gets,” said Packers offensive coordinator Tom Clements on Monday of Benson. “We’d like to work those other guys in there if the opportunity presents itself but you try to get (Benson) the ball to get him going.”
The more Benson gets the ball, the more effective he becomes. Benson rushed for 84 yards on 18 carries against the Saints on Sunday. No other running back carried the ball, other than John Kuhn on a fake punt.
Gone are the days when the Packers used a running back by committee approach. Benson has gobbled up 91% of the carries among running backs in the first four games, with 64 carries for 228 yards (3.4 average). Kuhn has four carries for 8 yards and Green two carries for two yards.
Starks is coming off a turf toe injury suffered in the first preseason game, but according to coach Mike McCarthy, there’s no guarantee he will even make the game-day active roster.
The Packers seem to think Benson will only get better, as long as he gets the ball on a regular basis.
Although Benson’s long run was for just 9 yards against the Saints, Clements thought he was close to breaking out.
“He got caught by the heels three or four times where had he been able to avoid that one guy, he was on his way to getting some bigger gains,” said Clements. “Hopefully we can get those gains going forward.”